Fantastic Four 161
“All The World Wars At Once!”
Published May 1975
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Rich Buckler
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Buckler and Sinnott

Synopsis

The comic opens with Mr. Fantastic testing his powers, and concluding they are fading, thus limiting his value to the team. The Human Torch, frustrated with Reed’s decision to sell the FF’s company, journeys to the Fifth Dimension to reunite with Valeria, only to be sucked into a battle with giant robots, apparently created by Reed Richards. Meanwhile, the Thing, on an Earth in another dimension, battles dinosaurs before he is subdued by the Ben Grimm of that Earth. Back on the primary earth (or Earth 1 or Earth 616 if you prefer) Reed and Sue prepare for an invasion from the Fifth Dimension, seemingly led by Johnny.

What’s going on here?

Just when I thought the last issue was peak Roy Thomas, he goes even further. Instead of a story spanning two dimensions, he has now added a third (confusingly called the Fifth Dimension), and each seems to be in conflict with another. Arkon, whom we might have expected to be the primary villain of this arc, has disappeared and the bad guy now seems to be the Reed Richards of the alternate Earth, who is that Earth’s Thing and has apparently sent giant robots to conquer the Fifth Dimension.

The comic is at times confusing — particularly since it backs into the story after a lengthy, seemingly unrelated opening sequence concerning Reed and his powers — but its complexity gives it a welcome richness and it’s crammed with ideas that will reappear in comics again and again. The scene of dinosaurs and vikings running amok, for example, feels like something directly out of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a comic which won’t come out for another 10 years. And the extra-dimensional, evil doppelgänger of a hero is now a recurring device, from Dark Beast to The Maker.

Thomas being Thomas, he can’t help but show off his erudition by dropping a reference to the Elder Edda. He also drops in some snide references to the Distinguished Competition, certainly not knowing he would be working for DC in seven years.

What I liked

Along with the aforementioned depth of storytelling from Thomas, it seems Rich Buckler has upped his game. After a few uninspiring issues, his layouts in this comic are more dynamic, and show an imaginative use of perspective and angles. Here’s a simple sequence with four panels, all with different perspectives that help tell the story:

Here’s another one (also, note how different the dinosaur’s teeth look from the cover):

As mentioned last issue, Thomas has been pulling the FF closer to the rest of the Marvel universe. Here’s another example, where he references Professor X (and frankly, the whole opening sequence, with Mr. Fantastic testing himself in his version of the Danger Room, would have felt at home in an X-Men comic):

There’s some interesting political commentary too, with Nelson Rockefeller president of Earth 2 (I’m just going to call it that). Rockefeller was vice president when this comic was published in 1975, having been appointed to the position by President Gerald Ford after he assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned. Ben’s comment about not voting for Rockefeller or Ford for president of Earth 2 is a bit odd, since no one voted for them on Earth 1 either (or maybe that’s his point).

What I didn’t like

Sue is back on the team, but her role now, as in years past, mostly seems to be fretting. And Reed is again lying to her to protect her.

When Johnny is attacked in the Fifth Dimension, the guards there just happen to have rifles that shoot … ice. Pretty convenient.

Anything else?

The story’s title was borrowed from a short science-fiction story by George Alec Effinger, which is credited by Thomas. I’m not familiar with Effinger’s work, but he was active and prolific from the 70s through the 90s, and wrote some stories for Marvel’s horror magazines in 1972.

Overall

More Thomasian fun